GAME 41 PREVIEW: FLYERS VS. BLUES
Hitting the statistical midpoint of the 2017-18 hockey season, Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (17-15-8) host Mike Yeo's St. Louis Blues (26-15-2) on Saturday afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center. Game time is 1:00 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on NBCSNP.
This is the second and final meeting of the season between the teams, and the lone game in Philadelphia. On Nov. 2, a leg-weary and injury-depleted Flyers team dealt the previously undefeated-at-home Blues a 2-0 shutout defeat.
On that night, every player on the Flyers' roster did their part, but the heaviest lifting was done by the brilliant play of defenseman Ivan Provorov, goaltender Michal Neuvirth (33-save shutout) and the two-way work of Sean Couturier (two assists). Vitally, Couturier returned to the game for the third period after a blindside hit by former Flyers linemate Brayden Schenn in the second period.
Brandon Manning (2nd goal of the season) and Claude Giroux (empty net, 7th) tallied for the Flyers. Jake Allen made 21 saves on 22 shots in a losing cause. The Flyers went 0-for-2 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill. The latter area was highlighted by an incredible two-plus minute shift by Provorov on the 2nd kill, blocking three shots.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
Saturday's tilt is the third of a four-game homestand and the second of a three-games-in-four-days stretch that will conclude against the Sabres on Sunday afternoon. The Flyers are a disappointing 9-8-4 at home to date, and 1-1-0 on the homestand to date.
However, the team is coming off a strong performance -- at least for the opening 40 minutes, and especially in a dominant second period -- in a fast-paced and feisty 6-4 win over the New York Islanders on Saturday.
Sean Couturier (power play, 19th goal of the season), Michael Raffl (7th goal), Wayne Simmonds (13th goal), Ivan Provorov (5-on-4 power play and empty net power play goals, 6th and 7th) scored for the Flyers. Jakub Voracek (39th and 40th assists of the season), Claude Giroux (34th and 35th assists), Ivan Provorov (11th assist), Shayne Gostisbehere (22nd assist), Robert Hägg (5th and 6th assists), Jordan Weal (7th assist) and Nolan Patrick (6th assist) collected apples.
Brian Elliott got the start for the 15th consecutive game. He showed signs of possible fatigue, looking vulnerable on his glove side and playing very deep in his net but battled hard around the net and came up with just enough timely saves to win. Elliott finished with 27 saves on 31 shots.
Based on Friday's practice in Voorhees, Elliott appears set to start against the Blues; his former team. If so, ex-Sabre Neuvirth would presumably get Sunday's game against Buffalo.
A weather-related flight cancellation at YYZ on Wednesday and a series of next-day flight delays stranded recalled forward Tyrell Goulbourne at the airport and prevented him from
making his NHL debut in Thursday's tilt against the Islanders. He practiced with the Flyers on Friday and is set to make his debut in this game, playing on Scott Laughton's line.
Based on Friday's practice, ex-Blues forward Jori Lehterä will return to the Flyers lineup for Saturday's game. He played one of his better games as a Flyer in the game in St. Louis back in November. Assuming the main practice combos from Friday hold over, that means both Taylor Leier and Dale Weise -- who struggled in the Islanders game -- are scratches.
The defense combos at practice were the same as last game. That means rookie Travis Sanheim appears likely to be a healthy scratch for the fourth straight game.
Entering Tuesday's game, the Flyers have scored 113 goals (tied for 19th in the NHL) and yielded 115 (tied for 13th fewest in the NHL). At five-on-five, Philly has scored 70 goals (22nd in the NHL) and yielded 62 (tied for 3rd fewest).
On the power play, the Flyers rank 13th at 20.4 percent (29-for-142) with six shorthanded goals yielded. On the penalty kill, the Flyers rank 29th (93-for-124, 75.0 percent). Scott Laughton's shorthanded goal in the home opener against Washington still stands as the lone shorthander for the Flyers to date this season.
BLUES OUTLOOK
After roaring out to an outstanding start this season, the Blues hit some bumps in the road. The team is currently in second place in the Central Division, one point behind the Winnipeg Jets. However, St. Louis brings a three-game winning streak into Saturday's game. Overall, the club is an impressive 11-7-2 on the road this season.
On Thursday, the Blues skated to a 2-1 win at home over the Western Conference leading Vegas Golden Knights to bring Vegas' eight-game winning streak to an end. The game was tied at 1-1 in the third period when Paul Stastny (8th goal of the season) was the first to a loose puck near the net and stashed it home on the backhand. Back in the first period, Alexander Steen (5th goal) gave the Blues a 1-0 lead. Former Phantoms goalie Carter Hutton earned the win and first-star honors with 38 saves on 39 shots.
The Blues have missed fleet-footed first line left winger Jaden Schwartz (14 goals, 35 points in 30 games), who remains on injured reserve with an ankle injury. The top line currently features veteran ex-Flyer Scottie Upshall on left wing to add a speed element but Schwartz may be the NHL's fastest skater and is the more talented player. Upshall has six goals and 15 points on the season.
Even without Schwartz, the Flyers have to be well aware of former teammate Brayden Schenn (team-leading 17 goals, 42 points, plus-21) and deadly sniper Vladimir Tarasenko (17 goals, 39 points).
Schenn has slumped of late -- zero goals, two assists in his last six games; one goal and four assists in his last 12 games -- but will no doubt be fired up for his first game in Philadelphia since the draft-day trade that sent him to the Blues for 2017 (Morgan Frost) and 2018 first-round picks as well as Lehterä. Schenn has always been a streaky scorer, and is likely to get hot again at some point. Despite the recent downturn and an earlier five-game pointless stretch, Schenn is having an excellent all-around season while contributing physicality to the Blues lineup.
St. Louis also has size and firepower on the blueline led by soon to be 28-year-old Alex Pietrangelo (seven goals, 28 points, plus-13) and 24-year-old Colton Parayko (three goals, 19 points). Carl Gunarsson is at plus-13 on the season, and the Blues now have veteran Jay Bouwmeester back in the lineup.
In goal, Jake Allen has appeared in 33 games (18-12-2, 2.57 GAA, .913 SV%, one shutout) while Hutton has played 14 (8-3-0, 1.64 GAA, .947 SV%, one shutout).
Entering Saturday's game, the Blues have scored 121 goals (tied for 12th) and yielded 105 (fifth fewest). At 5-on-5, the team has tallied 83 times (tied for 7th) and given up 68 (sixth fewest).
The Blues' power play has struggled this season, clocking in at 14.9% (22-for-148, 28th in the NHL), and have yielded three opposing shorthanded goals. On the penalty kill, the club ranks 10th at a solid 82.4 percent success rate (107-for-131) with one shorthanded goal apiece scored by Vladimir Sobotka and Kyle Brodziak.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
FLYERS
28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
12 Michael Raffl - 51 Valtteri Filppula - 93 Jakub Voracek
40 Jordan Weal - 19 Nolan Patrick - 17 Wayne Simmonds
15 Jori Lehterä - 21 Scott Laughton - 56 Tyrell Goulbourne
9 Ivan Provorov - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
47 Andrew MacDonald - 8 Robert Hägg
23 Brandon Manning - 3 Radko Gudas
37 Brian Elliott
[30 Michal Neuvirth]
Scratches: 6 Travis Sanheim (healthy), 20 Taylor Leier (healthy), 22 Dale Weise (healthy).
Blues
9 Scottie Upshall - 10 Brayden Schenn - 91 Vladimir Tarasenko
71 Vladimir Sobotka - 26 Paul Stastny - 32 Tage Thompson
21 Patrik Berglund - 28 Kyle Brodziak - 20 Alex Steen
23 Dmitrij Jaskin - 49 Ivan Barbashev - 56 Magnus Pääjärvi
19 Jay Bouwmeester - 27 Alex Pietrangelo
6 Joel Edmundson - 55 Colton Parayko
4 Carl Gunnarsson - 41 Robert Bortuzzo
40 Carter Hutton / 34 Jake Allen
Scratches: 22 Chris Thorburn (healthy), 70 Oskar Sundqvist (healthy), 29 Vince Dunn (illness), 17 Jaden Schwartz (IR, ankle), 15 Robby Fabbri (IR, out for season with a knee injury), 12 Zachary Sanford (IR, shoulder).
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CANADA, HART CAPTURE GOLD MEDAL AT WJC
Flyers 2016 second-round pick capped off the 2017-18 World Junior Championships by taking Player of the Game honors in Team Canada's 3-1 victory in the gold medal game against Sweden on Friday night.
In a thrilling match that the Swedes controlled early and remained anyone's game until nearly the very end, Hart stopped 35 of 36 shots. The only puck that got past him was a shorthanded goal by Sweden's Tim Söderlund from the bottom of the right circle off the upper part of the short side post over Hart's left shoulder and then into the net at 13:07 of the second period.
The game remained 1-1 until Tyler Steenbergen scored his first goal of the tournament at 18:20 of the third period. The Canadians then added an empty netter to put a lock on the gold medal.
Hart finished the WJC with a 5-0-1 record, 1.81 GAA, .930 save percentage and one shutout (vs. Denmark in the preliminary round). However, the IIHF tournament directorate gave its Top Goaltender award to Sweden's Filip Gustavsson. The Penguins' 2016 second-round pick posted a 4-1-0 record, 1.81 GAA and .924 save percentage.
Flyers defense prospect Linus Högberg, stapled to the bench as a spare-wheel seventh defenseman the entire tournament, skated just six shifts (4:05) for the gold medal game. He will return shortly to the SHL's Växjö Lakers, where he logged 20-plus minutes of ice time in the top domestic pro league in each of his last three games before departing for the national team's pre-WJC camp.
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PHANTOMS DROP 3-2 SHOOTOUT TO MARLIES
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms took a 2-1 lead into the late minutes of a tough road tilt against the Toronto Marlies on Friday night but could not close it out and went on to sustain a 3-2 loss via shootout. The skills competition setback dropped the Phantoms to 21-10-5 on the season.
Alex Lyon was strong in goal for the Phantoms, who needed him to step up as they got outplayed heavily in the first 15 minutes of the game. The Marlies' Miro Aaltonen scored on the game's opening shift but then Lyon kept the deficit manageable until his team got going late in the first period and especially in the second. The Phantoms forged a 2-1 lead in the middle frame but Toronto pushed back heavily in the third and eventually, at 16:21 got a Colin Greening jam-in goal near the right post, which had seemed to be sealed off.
Overall, Lyon was excellent in stopping 36 of 38 shots in regulation and one OT shot. He saw many point-blank chances and multiple screens and deflections but came up with the saves. The Aaltonen goal was a rebound put-in of a shot by Kasperi Kapanen. Lyon went 0-for-2 in the shootout, getting beaten by Aaltonen and Kapanen in succession.
Toronto's Garrett Sparks, one of the AHL's top netminders, was also strong in goal as he stopped 33 of 35 Phantoms shots and then went 2-for-2 in the shootout (denying Chris Conner and Oskar Lindblom).
The big story from the Phantoms and Flyers organizational perspective, however, was another stellar game for the surging Lindblom. He scored his 12th goal of the season -- and fifth in the last six games -- but easily could have had a second one or a hat trick among his seven shots on goal. The rookie Swedish left winger was robbed a couple times by Sparks. In the meantime, he continued his strong board work and two-way play that have been present even when he is not scoring goals. The only difference now is that he's regularly finding ways to get inside the dots to the scoring areas.
Lindblom's goal, which gave the Phantoms a 2-1 lead at 8:15 of the second period, came off a broken play. Receiving a pass from defenseman Reece Willcox, Lindblom moved in and tried to make a cross-ice pass near the goal mouth. The pass went off the leg of a defender but right back to Lindblom, who quickly stashed it home to supplement an earlier call by ECHL recall forward Alex Kryshelnyski. Scored at 2:27 of the second period, ECHL All-Star Game selection Kryshelnyski's first goal as a Phantom was tallied on an unassisted breakaway on Sparks.
Lindblom now has points in nine of his last 11 games (seven goals, five assists, 12 points) and goals in three games in a row. After opening the season by going pointless in the first six games, the Swede has settled in to produce 12 goals and 26 points in the last 30 games.
At this point, it is only a matter of time until the Flyers find an NHL landing spot -- in a top-nine role, likely with second unit power play time -- for Lindblom. The recent strong play of Jordan Weal and Michael Raffl may have factored into the Flyers feeling they can continue to wait and see if Lindblom can take his play even a step higher and then hit the ground running in an NHL role where he might score as well play well on the boards and without the puck.
The number one thing the Flyers wanted to see out of Lindblom when he was sent to the Phantoms out of training camp was a little bit of work on his feet -- specifically in getting them moving a bit quicker to arrive in the scoring areas. He's doing it with frequency now at the AHL level. Once Flyers GM Ron Hextall is convinced the player is ready to do the same in the NHL, he will come up and stay up.
In regard to Lindblom, Hextall said before Thursday's Flyers game, "He has come along very nicely, he’s playing good minutes, he’s producing. He’s right on track. If you said to me after his first 10 games, he would be where he is right now, I’d be very happy.”
Phantoms head coach Scott Gordon said all along that he felt it was only a matter of time for Lindblom, even in the early stages of the season, and he felt the player would really take off by December. That has been precisely the case, even with the Phantoms riddled with injuries.
Speaking of injuries, the Phantoms got team captain Colin McDonald back in the lineup on Friday. However, they ended up losing Corban Knight in the second period of the Marlies tilt to an unspecified injury. The team is still without rookie center Mikhail Vorobyev and veteran forward Matt Read.
The Phantoms got veteran Mark Alt back in the lineup on Friday for the first time since he cleared waivers and was returned from the Flyers. Samuel Morin is about a week away from returning to the lineup from a recurring nagging injury that caused him to be shut down for several weeks. Highly touted Phantoms rookie defenseman Philippe Myers, now back in the lineup for the last five games after dealing with a nagging injury of his own, was even with one shot on goal in Friday's game. Will O'Neill was a healthy scratch.
Second year pro Nicolas Aube-Kubel has had a good season overall but he had a rough game on Friday despite three shots on goal. He also took a kneeing penalty in the third period with the Phantoms clinging to a one-goal lead. The Phantoms survived it.
Lehigh Valley had a late-game power play that carried over into a 4-on-3 in OT but could not capitalize on it to win the game. They also had to kill an OT penalty of their own to get the game to the shootout.
The Phantoms are right back in action on Saturday night, visiting the Rochester Americans (21-8-6) in another gut-check road game.
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CHL AND NCAA PROSPECTS: FRIDAY HIGHLIGHTS
A more comprehensive roundup of Flyers junior, collegiate and European prospects will follow during the NHL team's upcoming bye week. The most notable developments on Friday night:
* OHL: By the skin of their teeth, the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds extended their point streak to 25 games (24-0-1) and Flyers 2017 first-round pick Morgan Frost extended his individual point streak to 16 games in a 3-2 OT road win against the Oshawa Generals.
The Greyhounds were outplayed for much of the night while OHL leading scorer Frost played into tough luck in regulation. He had three shots on goal, including one good scoring chance in close, created two excellent scoring chances for linemates but one was shot off the crossbar by Barrett Hayton and the other was denied on a great save by Kyle Keyser.
Finally, on a 4-on-3 power play in OT, Frost and defenseman Rasmus Sandin moved the puck crisply and set up Tim Gettinger for the game-winning goal at the 2:00 mark. Frost now has 33 points (11 goals, 22 assists) in his last 16 games. Overall, the 18-year-old center leads the OHL in points (62), assists (40), and plus-minus (+47). He is 7th in goals (22).
* NCAA: In addition to having the OHL's leading scorer in the farm system, the Flyers also have the number one (Michigan junior center Cooper Marody) and number two (Western Michigan sophomore power right winger Wade Allison) point getters. For a time on Friday night, there were three Flyers prospects tied atop the NCAA but Marody added an assist to take over the national lead and an initial three-point game by Ohio State sophomore Tanner Laczynski turned into a two-point game (one goal, one assist) when an initially credited assist was taken away.
In term of points per game, Marody is third (1.53), Allison is fifth (1.40) and Lacynski (1.29 on an offensively shallow Ohio State team) is tied for 14th. Some Division I teams have played as many as 21 or as few as 13 games to date. Thus, points-per-game is a somewhat better barometer, although there is can also be a significant quality-of-competition disparity from division to division.
Of the three Flyers forward prospects, the 20-year-old Allison is the most projectable as a potential future NHL top six to top nine forward; somewhat in the Wayne Simmonds mold. The versatile Laczynski is a player who might eventually be able to be plugged into various roles at the NHL level but most likely in the bottom six. Marody is a bit dodgier as an NHL prospect, with some scouting projections of him falling more along the lines of a future above-average AHL or European league playmaker who could work his way up to the NHL.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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